Men's Basketball | March 6, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The La Salle University men's basketball team begins the 2018 Atlantic 10 Tournament on Wednesday, March 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The Explorers, who enter the event seeded 12th, will square off against 13th-seeded Massachusetts in a tilt that is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.

The game will air live on Stadium Network (clearance list), and will also be streamed online at watchstadium.com. An online audio broadcast of the event will be available via Stretch Internet or the TuneIn Radio App, featuring play-by-play commentator Kale Beers and analyst Rich Prendergast.

Tickets for the game, as well as for all sessions of the 2018 Atlantic 10 Tournament, are available through the La Salle Ticket Office by calling 215-951-1999 or by emailing tickets@lasalle.edu.

NEWS & NOTES
•La Salle & UMass split the season series, with each team winning at home.
•The Minutemen came back from a 21-point, second-half deficit to earn an 86-79 overtime win over the Explorers on Jan. 10.
•UMass guard Luwane Pipkins had 44 points in the contest, while La Salle guard Pookie Powell had a career-high 30.
•Two weeks later in Philadelphia, the Explorers avenged the loss by a comfortable 15-point margin (87-72).
•B.J. Johnson led five La Salle players in double figures with 26 points.
•Johnson did not play in the first meeting between the two teams, while Powell missed the second game. Both absences were due to injury.

CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Atlantic 10 Tournament Record - 11-20
Record in A-10 Tournament Opening Round - 1-0 (2016 vs. Duquesne, 88-73)
Record in A-10 Tournament Second Round - 9-9
Record in A-10 Tournament Quarterfinals - 1-10
Record in A-10 Tournament Semifinals - 0-1
Record in A-10 Tournament Finals - N/A
A-10 Regular Season Titles - N/A
A-10 Tournament Titles - N/A
All-Time Conference Tournament Record - 48-35 (9 Titles)*
* Includes MCC (1993-95), MAAC (1984-92), ECC (1975-83) and MAC (1967-74)

HISTORY vs. UMASS AT A-10 TOURNAMENT
2015 Second Round (at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.) - W, 76-69
2005 Opening Round (at U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio) - W, 70-64 (OT)
1997 Opening Round (at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pa.) - L, 64-49

SCOUTING THE MINUTEMEN
•UMass finished the season with an 85-75 victory over Duquesne to secure the 13th seed at the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
•The Minutemen scored 11 straight points over a two minute stretch to pull away from the Dukes, who had cut the lead to two with 2:52 remaining.
•Malik Hines had 20 points on a perfect 8-of-8 from the field, while four other players reached double figures.
•Luwane Pipkins leads the team and ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 21.1 ppg, and averaged 34.5 points over two games against the Explorers in the regular season.
•C.J. Anderson is third on the squad in scoring at 10.3 ppg and is fourth in the A-10 in assists at 5.2 per contest.